In Depth Analysis: CalculatedRisk Newsletter on Real Estate (Ad Free) Read it here.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Greece: NY Times reports Austerity has Passed

by Calculated Risk on 2/12/2012 06:00:00 PM

The vote just finished, and the NY Times is reporting the austerity bill has passed.

From Athens News: Live news blog, Feb 12-13

In the final tally, 199 MPs voted in favour and 74 against the second bailout memorandum.

Parliament voted in favor of new austerity bill. All of KKE, Syriza and Democratic Left MPs voted No, as well as 21 New Democracy MPs (one in four- ND has 83 MPs in total) and 13 Pasok MPs. Laos MPs voted No, leader absent, the two former ministers voted Yes. All but one Democratic Alliance MPs voted Yes.
The next key date is Thursday. From the NY Times: Greek Protesters Clash With Police Before Vote
“The reason for the urgency is that by Thursday the euro group must approve the release of rescue funding,” Mr. Venizelos said.

The push was also needed, he said, to meet a March 5 deadline to swap bonds between the government and private debt holders. That debt swap, Mr. Venizelos said, would allow Greece to make a $19 billion bond payment on March 20 to avoid default.